 "The life of Anna Chapman, Russia’s most glamorous secret agent, making a comeback with a new mission")
She was known as Russia’s most glamorous secret agent and caught the world’s attention when she was arrested in New York for spying and then expelled in 2010 during a major spy swap.
And now, Anna Chapman, seems to be back in the news, grabbing headlines once again, after she was appointed the head of the Museum of Russian Intelligence, a new project linked to Vladimir Putin’s top secret service.
As she steps into her new role, we take a closer look at who exactly is Anna Chapman and what is her new mission?
From Anna Kushchenko to Anna Chapman
Chapman, who’s maiden name is reportedly Kuschenko, was born and raised in Volgograd (then called Stalingrad). Her father was a member of the Soviet Union’s diplomatic corps and worked in the embassy in Kenya when she was a child.
As per records available, she attended the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia in Moscow, a prestigious institution where she got a degree in economics. In 2001, she met Alex Chapman, a British psychology student, at a nightclub. Five months later they got married in Moscow.
But it seemed that the marriage wasn’t meant to last and they got divorced after four years. Alex told The Telegraph in a previous interview, “Towards the end of our marriage she became very secretive, going for meetings on her own with ‘Russian friends’.”
But Anna has another version. In her memoir, Bondianna, which was released last year, she accuses Alex of attempting to kill her with a drill. The opening sentence reads: “Something sharp and cold pierced her temple.”
Anna Chapman’s spy transformation
In her memoir, Chapman reveals how she was recruited by Vladimir Putin’s foreign intelligence service while she lived in London.
She writes that at first a young London-based Moscow spy, named Kirill, recruited her after witnessing her expert networking skills, especially with the wealthy and influential men of Britain. Kirill then engineered sitting next to her on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, testing her patriotic leanings.
It was after undergoing arduous psychological tests, that she was finally recruited as a spy.
She even described herself as a real-life woman version of James Bond. “I knew the effect I had on men,” she wrote. “Nature had generously endowed me with the necessary attributes: a slim waist, a full chest, a cascade of red hair. All I needed was to emphasise it - which I did with simple yet sexy outfits, light makeup, and an effortless air about me. Most importantly, I didn’t try too hard to please. And it worked like magic.”
Her memoir tells stories of luxury trips, lavish parties and encounters with the rich and powerful. One particular excerpt reveals how she landed a job at a hedge fund in London after winning a game of strip poker.
Chapman’s arrival in New York and her subsequent arrest
In 2009, Chapman moved to New York City where she continued to pursue business opportunities while immersing herself into the social scene. She attending charity events, exclusive parties and upscale nightclubs where she would network and gather intelligence.
She embraced social media, cleverly using platforms such as Facebook to extend her espionage activities. She used her online presence to draw in number of followers, subtly gaining access to influential figures and valuable information.
It was in 2010 that the FBI arrested her in New York as part of a Russian sleeper cell under Operation Ghost Stories. Their decade-long investigation uncovered deep-cover operatives living “illegally” in the US.
Her arrest was also something straight out of a movie. On June 26, 2010, an undercover FBI agent, posing as a Russian operative, contacted Chapman by phone, and the two arranged to meet at a coffee shop downtown. The agent, who called himself Roman, recorded their conversation. He handed Chapman a fake US passport, telling her that she was to deliver the document to another of the illegals (her other spy friends).
The following day, Chapman entered a policy station in Lower Manhattan and handed the passport to police. FBI agents soon arrived, and the arrests began.
According to then FBI Counter Intelligence Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi, Anna and her ‘friends’ were on their way to penetrating foreign policy circles. “They had befriended a friend of a sitting Cabinet official,” Figliuzzi told ABC News. “They wanted to get their hands on the most sensitive data they could get their hands on, but we took this thing down before classified information changed hands.”
He further added that the red-headed Chapman was much more than a seductive ‘femme fatale’, and that she was a new breed of illegal operative — tech savvy and capable of spying in plain sight.
In FBI hidden surveillance videos, which were later released, one could see Chapman sending encrypted messages to her handler with a specially equipped laptop. In one of the FBI surveillance tapes, she is in a department store, transmitting messages to her contact standing outside the store.
Two weeks after all of her fellow spies were nabbed, on July 8, 2010, the US carried out one of its most dramatic spy swaps — Chapman and nine other captured Russian operatives were traded for four Western agents imprisoned in Russia. The swap took place under the camera flashes on the tarmac of the Vienna International Airport.
Anna Chapman’s return to Russia
Following her return to Russia, Anna Chapman continued to be in the media glare. She began a weekly TV show. She also did a photoshoot for a men’s magazine, dressing seductively and carrying a pistol.
She was even elected as one of the leaders of the youth wing of Vladimir Putin’s political party. It is also reported that she gave birth to a baby boy, though there’s no confirmation on it.
Anna Chapman also used her looks to curate a new Instagram account — she only posted images and videos of herself, usually wearing glamourous and fur-hatted looks as she’s photographed amid snowy scenes, horse stables, and television studios.
Anna Chapman’s latest mission
And it seems that Chapman’s espionage career isn’t over entirely. Now, going by the name of Anna Romanova, she has been appointed to head the newly established Museum of Russian Intelligence.
According to a report in The Sun, the new museum is registered near Gorky Park in Moscow, at the press office of the Russian Foreign Intelligence service (SVR). The SVR is the ex-KGB spy agency that employed her as a foreign agent
Once operational, the museum is expected to showcase the history and achievements of Russian espionage, highlighting the country’s intelligence operations against the West.
And we think, the role is apt for her, don’t you?
With inputs from agencies
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